The pen of a skillful writer
“My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer” (Ps. 45:1).
There is a large picture frame on the wall of our living room. In the large frame, four Chinese characters in calligraphy are written, and those four letters are ‘Prayer All-around’. Of course, my wife and I don’t know Chinese. But someone who know Chinese told that meaning to me. The phrase ‘Prayer All-around’ written in this calligraphy character was given by my father's friend pastor as our wedding gift. And he is a missionary in Canada, reaching out to the sailors in the ships. I still remember that one day when he came to our church and preached, he told our church members to obey the Word of God. And he gave us an example of a car. He said when we drive the car, if we put it on “D”, that mean we can drive (go forward). And if we put it on “R”, that means we can go backward. If we put it on “P”, it means we have to park the car. Likewise, if God tells us to go forward, we should go forward, If He tells us to go backward, we should go backward. And if God wants us to stop, then we should stop. We just need to obey Him. I think it is a very precious word. If God commands us to go forward, we just need to move forward in faith. And if God tells us to look back, we just have to think about the graces of God that God has given us in the past. And if He commands us to be still and know that He is our God, that’s what we just need to do. When I think about the the calligraphy letter “Prayer All-around” written by this missionary who, I believe that he believes that prayer is all-round and is living a life of prayer and wrote this calligraphy letter for my wife and I.
Look at Psalms 45:1b – “my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.” When I think about this word, I remember the missionary's calligraphy writing “Prayer All-around” that he wrote for my wife and I because I felt that the missionary's confidence in the power of prayer and the life of prayer were more important the writing itself. In other words, the heart of the missionary who wrote the calligraphy writing is more important than the calligraphy writing itself. Likewise, even though our tongue that is the pen of skillful writer is important, but our heart using that tongue is more important. The reason is because what is in our heart comes out through the tongue. If our hearts are overflowing with love, the message of love will come out through our tongue. But if hatred in our hearts is growing and bearing fruit, the only thing that will come out through our tongue will be the voice of hate. Of course, even if we have hatred in our heart, we can still lie with our tongue, saying, “I love you.” But in common sense, if we have hatred in our heart, our tongue will make the voice of hate. Therefore, when we think about our tongue as the pen of the skillful writer that the psalmist speaks in Psalms 45:1, we must think about the heart of the ones who have that tongue.
First, the heart of the ones who have the tongue, that is the pen of the skillful writer, is 'good heart'.
Look at Psalms 45:1 – “My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.” Here, the psalmist confesses that “My heart overflows with good theme.” If our hearts are good, then we say good things. Then, what is 'good heart' here? When I thought of the English word “noble” (v. 1), I thought of “A wife of noble character” in Proverbs 31:10. The Bible says that “faithful instruction is on this noble character woman’s tongue (v. 26). In other words, the noble character woman feels and experiences God's patience (love) in her heart, so she speaks the law of love with her tongue. Likewise, if we taste God's love and goodness in our hearts (Ps. 34:8), we will say good words with our tongue for sure.
We who believe in Jesus must be able to confess, “God is good,” no matter how difficult we may be. If we sing “God is so good” only where there is good thing and no difficulty, and then stop singing that song when difficult things come, then I think it is a proof that we aren’t experiencing God’s goodness and love. If we are able to confess, “Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever (23:6), then by transcending any kinds of circumstances, we will be able to sing “God is so good” by believing that “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28). Such a good heart can only say good words.
Second, the heart of the ones who have the tongue, that is the pen of the skillful writer, is 'gracious heart’.
Look at Psalms 45:2 – “You are fairer than the sons of men; Grace is poured upon Your lips; Therefore God has blessed You forever.” The lips of the king or the saints who are blessed by God must be gracious. In other words, in order to glorify God with our lips, we must say things that are gracious to others. In order to do this, our hearts must be filled with God's grace. If we, like Apostle Paul, know that we are who we are because of God’s grace (1 Cor. 15:10) and are living a life of faith that is filled with that grace, then we will let our speech always be with grace, “as though seasoned wit salt (Col. 4:6). Therefore, we will bring grace to others by glorifying God with our lips.
Jesus said, “What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean,' but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean’” (Mt. 15:11) and said, “he things that come out of the mouth come from the heart” (v. 18). If our hearts aren’t clean, then the things that come out of our mouths also cannot be clean. However, our hearts have already been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ shed on the cross. We are God's children who have been saved by God's grace. Therefore, as we get to know God's grace more and more deeply and broadly, the gracious words from our gracious hearts must come out through our lips. Also, as those who have tasted the goodness of God, we must speak good words through our lips in good hearts. I hope and pray that God's goodness and grace will be revealed through our tongues, which is the pen of the skillful writer.
I want to restrain my heart with the help of the Holy Spirit rather than my tongue,
James Kim
(Praying that I may be able to proclaim God’s goodness and grace through my lips)